David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 105: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills her plans to provide permanent sites with accommodation for two schools (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33515/10]

Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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My Department is acutely aware of the need for additional permanent school accommodation in the general Midleton area. As the Deputy will be aware, Midleton has been identified by the Department's forward planning unit as one of the areas projected to undergo significant increases in educational demand in the coming years.

To this end, the Department is currently in the process of acquiring a six acre site which is zoned for educational use.

As part of the contract exchange, a planning application for an educational campus of two 16 classroom schools was submitted to Cork County Council in June of this year. The purpose of this application is to ensure that the site to be purchased will be deemed suitable for land usage purposes to accommodate two schools. The planning authority has requested further information from my Department and a response is being co-ordinated by my officials. As part of framing this response, my officials recently met with the vendor to discuss aspects of the request for further information, which included information relating to traffic management issues. My officials will be meeting with the planning authority in the coming week to discuss and address their concerns. Pending the outcome of the planning decision, the Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to say definitively whether both of the schools referred to by him will be housed on the proposed site. However, should the application be successful, it is my intention that priority will be accorded to the two schools referred to in the Deputy's question.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. Has the Department had any contact with the management of either or both schools in regard to the application made? Perhaps the Minister of State will indicate how much the Department is paying for the site. Will she elaborate on the term "contract exchange", which she used?

Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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As the planning application relates to ensuring certainty for the purchase of the lands in question, as distinct from the specifics of the building project, it was not considered appropriate to involve the schools in the contract negotiations. That being said, I assure Deputy Stanton that the schools will be consulted in due course on the specifics of the building projects.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Is it true that the Department must pay a planning application fee of approximately €18,000 arising from the planning application because it did not identify the school that would use either of the sites? Is it the case that the Department has paid €400,000 in rent for one of the schools in question over the past three years?

Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Department has paid approximately €18,000 to the planning authority in submitting the relevant planning application. This was based on the planning authority's implementation of the planning regulations which required payment of this fee where the prospective schools to be housed were not named. Given the uncertainty of the planning application and the need to house both schools in permanent accommodation, it was not considered fair to either school to name them in the application.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Why were the schools not named and why was contact not made with them before the application was submitted?

Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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As I indicated, it was the decision of the Department, in fairness to the planning process and to allow for due process, not to name the two schools. It was not considered fair to name either school in the application at this stage.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Which Minister signed off on the planning application?

Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I do not have the information the Deputy seeks but I can obtain it for him.